Machine for making paper receptacles



Sept. 16, 1941. c. A. MOELLER MACHINE FOR MAKING PAPER RECEPTACLES 7 l m 3 M a, 1 w w om w m w L N q M v 1r.. 7 f m m w m Y W 7 U. j m 5 i Y3 6 M 3 r BA Patented Sept. 16, 1941 MACHINE FOR MAKING PAPER RECEPTACLES Carl A. Moeller, Randolph, Mass., assignor to Norfolk Paper 00., Inc., Randolph, Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Application July 30, 1940, Serial No. 348,475 I '3 Claims.

The presentinvention relates to machines for making paper containers and more particularly to machines for securing the end closure in a paper cylinder of a cover or top for a paper can,

Caps or covers for paper cans are commonly made so that they fit snugly over the end of the can, as it is desirable to have them retained securely in position'by the frictional engagement between the inner and outer surfaces of the cap and can walls. With such a close fitting cover,

however, difficulty is experienced in starting the cover over the open end of the can. 1

Furthermore, it is common practice to form the cylindrical body portion of the cap or cover by cutting off sections of appropriate length from a long rotating tube or cylinder by means of a stationary tool or knife. The pressure of the knife in this severing operation causes a slight inward turning or a burring at the cut edge, which further interferes with the starting of the cover over the end of the can.

In order to overcome this difficulty it has been a common practice to expand or flare slightly the open end of the cover or cap so that it may be easily started over the end of the can. This expanding or flaring operation is performed as a separate, distinct, and additional operation after the cap or cover has been otherwise completed by the assembling and securing of the disk or closure in the open end of the cap or cover cylinder.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a machine which shall, in a single operation,

secure the end closure in the cover by the usual rolling or crimping operation, and at the same time give to the opposite or open end the slight flare above described.

With this object in view, the present invention consists in so constructing and forming the support or mandrel for the cylinder of the cover that during .the crimping or rolling operation, whereby the end closure is secured in one end of the cylinder, the opposite end will simultaneously be flared or expanded sufflciently to insure easy positioning of the cover on the end of the can, yet without liability of damage to the cover cylinder. v

More specifically, the present invention contemplates the provision of a cylinder support or mandrel with an expanding portion over which the open end of the cover is forced when the closure disk is secured in the other end of the cylinder by the roller or crimping die, gripping means on the support or mandrel being arranged to yield sufliciently to permit the slight longitudi- 112.1 or axial movement of the cylinder required to flare or expand the open end of the cover yet at the same time holding the cover cylinder securely in position without rotation.

In the accompanying drawing which illustrates what is now considered the preferred form of the present invention, Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a well known type of machine adapted for securing closure disks in the end of a paper cylinder, and Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a portion of the same, showing the parts for holding and presenting the rotating forming die; Fig. 3 is a side view, partly in section, of one of the supporting arms with its mandrel or support and the forming die and a completed cover in operative position; Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail of a portion of Fig. 3 showing parts of the mandrel, die and support, and Fig. 5 is a perspective view, with a portion cut away, of the completed can cover with the closure secured in one end with the flare formed at the other or open end of the cover.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, the

- machine comprises essentially a rotary turret having four horizontal arms, each carrying at its free end a cylinder mandrel provided withexpanding grippers for holding the cylinder of the cover securely thereon and presenting it to a re tating forming die mounted upon a rotating motor driven spindle and continuously reciprocated toward and from the mandrels as they are successively presented. Both turret and spindle are automatically turned and reciprocated, respectively, through suitable connections in timed relation, and the gripping devices are similarly ac tuated to grip and release the cover cylinder at appropriate times. 'A suitable ejector is also provided for automatically pushing the completed cover ofi the mandrel after the forming and flaring operations. The mandrel is provided with an expanding or flaring section to expand the open end of the cover, the g pping devices being yielding so as to permit slight axial movement of the cover cylinder over the mandrel to bring theend of the cover cylinder into engagement with the flaring portion of the mandrel during the final stage of the spinning operation.

As shown in Fig. 1, the rotary turret, indicated generallyat ii, comprises four horizontal arms l3 mounted upon a vertical spindle l5, rotatably secured in the bearing block I! or the frame ll of the machine. The turret is given intermittent turning movements through successive 90 angles by means of a Geneva motion comprising the disk 2| secured to the bottom of the shaft I I and having four radial slots 23 formed in the lower surface thereof to receive a stud 25 on the arm 31 fixed upon the vertical shaft 29 driven by the bevel gears 3| on the horizontal shaft 93. This shaft is turned through reducing gears 35 and 31 driven by the motor 39 through belts 4| and 43 and speed reducing pulleys.

Fixed upon the outer end of each of the turret arms I3 is a mandrel having a cylindrical body portion 45 to receive upon it the cylindrical body 41 of the cap or cover, and also having a flange of larger diameter connected with or Joined to the cylindrical portion 41 by the curved surface or fillet 5I.

The gripping devices for holding the cylindrical portion of the cover upon the mandrel comprise arcuate metallic shoes or grippers 53 mounted in an annular recess in the cylindrical face 45, which shoes are carried upon radial. rods 55 slidably mounted in bores 51 in the mandrel. The inner ends of the rods are provided with conical heads 59 arranged to be engaged by the conical head 6| on the horizontal actuating rod 63 within a bore 64 in the turret arm. A bellcrank lever 65 pivoted upon the bracket 61 upon the turret arm is arranged to engage at one end the actuating rod 63. The other end of the bell-crank lever carries a threaded bolt 68 the head of which engages and is raised by the fixed inclined cam 69 as the turret arm turns to a position in line with the forming die, thereby causing the gripping. shoes to move outwardly in their recess. v

Upon the outer face of each shoe in position to engage the inner surface of the cylinder body of the cap or cover is a facing of rubber II, conveniently in the form of a rubber band overlying the four gripping shoes and of a substantial thickness. The bolt 68 on the bellcrank lever 61 is so adjusted with respect to its actuating cam 69 that the rubber faced grippershoes 53 will engage the cap body under suflicient pressure to hold the cap from turning on the mandrel when the latter is in operative position opposite the forming die yet permit a limited axial movement of the cover toward the flange 49 of the mandrel and into operative engagement with the fillet 5I under the pressure of the forming die, thereby to flare or expand slightly the open end of the cover, as shown at 13in Figs. 3, 4 and 5. If too light a pressure or grip is exerted by the shoes, the cap will be forced inwardly so far that its inner edge will be split, and if too heavy a pressure or grip is employed, the cap will be so securely held that no axial movement is permitted and consequently no-fiare is given to the edge of the cover. The cap body may even be ruptured by excessive pressure of the grippers.

The forming die, indicated generally at 15, is mounted on the rear end of a rotating shaft or spindle I1 driven by the belt 19 from the motor 39. The shaft is mounted in the bearings 8| on the head or block 83 which is slidingly mounted upon the frame I9, and is reciprocated by means of the cam roll 85 on the bottom of the carriage, engaging the cam slot 81 on the cam 89 on the shaft 33.

The face of the forming die is shaped to turn and crimp over the outer margin of the end disk 9| and the end 93 of the body portion into locking engagement, as shown in Fig. 4, when the die is moved toward the mandrel. While the face of the crimping die may be of any desired form is that illustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, where the crimping members consist of studs 95 provided with grooved or notched crimping recesses 91 and secured in position by the locking screws 99.

Means are provided for removing the formed cover or cap from the mandrel by means of an ejector actuated by the rotary motion of the turret. The ejector is shown as a circular plate IOI, normally positioned within a recess in the front end of the mandrel, being mounted on the studsor rods I03 secured at their rear ends to the sliding collar I05 splined upon the turret arm and having depending therefrom the stud I01 carrying at its lower end the contact member I09 adapted to engage the fixed cam III,

(see Fig. 2), thereby to force the collar along the arm and the ejector plate outwardly from the mandrel to release orremove the box coverwith its peripheraledge and the end of the cylindrical cap body rolled or crimped together, while the opposite open end of the cap is slightly flared or expanded, as indicated at I3.

In operation, the motor 39 runs continuously, rotating the crimping die 15 and reciprocating it intermittently towards and from the mandrels as they are presented one after another in succession. Assuming the turret rotates in the construction, a satisfactory and well-known direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 2, the operator, standing at the station corresponding to the position of the mandrel at the top of the figure,

places upon the mandrel a cover or cap body into the end of which has been manually pressed an end disk. At this point the grippers are withdrawn so that the cover body may be slipped easily over the mandrel until its open end is close to the fillet. When the turret completes its next rotational step, the cam 69 actuates the grippers causing them to expand and grip the body. The mandrel and assembled cover are now opposite the forming die, which is advanced by the cam 89, and through its rotational action crimps or folds the parts together. During the crimping operation, as pressure is brought upon the parts, the rubber face II of the gripping shoes yields orv is distorted slightly to permit the open end of the cover body to be forced over the fillet 5| or the curved portion of the mandrel, thereby permanently expanding or flaring the edge or end of the cover.

The die is now withdrawn andv the turret is rotated another whereupon the formed cover i will be ejected, another assembled cover brought into position opposite the forming die, and the crimping and expanding operations repeated.

While in the specification and accompanying drawing there has been described and shown what is now considered to be the preferred form of the present invention, it is to be understood that such invention is not limited thereto but may be embodied in other forms and arrangements of parts within the language of the appended claims.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. In a machine for making paper receptacles, the combination with a rotary forming die, of

means for. advancing the die axially to secure the end closure in a paper cylinder, a support for the cylinder, said support comprising a portion adapted to be received within the paper cylinder, an outwardly flaring portion for engaging and expanding the open end of the paper cylinder, bodily yielding gripping means for engaging the inner surface of the inner wall of the cylinder, and devices for actuating the gripping means to prevent relative movement between the contacting surfaces of the cylinder and the gripping means while permitting said means to yield bodily to permit a limited movement of the end of the cylinder over the flaring portion of the support under the pressure of the die to expand permanently the open end of the paper cylinder.

2. In a machine for making paper receptacles, the combination with a rotary forming die, of

means for advancing the die axially to secure facings for engaging the inner. surface of the wall of the cylinder, and devices for actuating the gripping means to cause the rubber facings to grip the cylinder and to prevent relative movement between the contacting faces of the cylinder and facings while allowing the rubber facings to yield to permit a limited movement of the end of the cylinder over the flaring portion of the support under the pressure of the die to the paper expand permanently the open end of cylinder. 1

3. In a machine for making paper receptacles, the combination with a rotary forming die, of means for advancing the die axially to secure the end closure in a paper cylinder, a support for the cylinder, said support comprising a cylindrical portion adapted to be received within the paper cylinder, an outwardly flaring portion for engaging and expanding the open end of the paper cylinder, gripping means comprising rigid, arcuate clamping shoes provided with rubber engaging faces for engaging the inner surface of the wall of the cylinder, and devices for actuating the gripping means to cause the rubber face to grip the cylinder and to prevent relative movement between the contacting surfaces of the cylinder and the rubber facings While permitting said faces to yield with respect to the rigid shoes to permit a limited movement of the end of the cylinder over the flaring portion of the support under the pressure of the die to expand permanently the open end of the paper cylinder.

CARL A. MOELLER. 

